rulon



Jan.. 17, 11928o W. E. RUE-ON METHOD FOR FORMING ECONSTRUCTEDCARBONAGEOUS FUEL Filed July 28, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 (g1/mundo@ Wb.Baia@ Jan. 17, 192s. 6 1,656,364

' W. B. RULON 6 METHOD FOR FORMING RECONSTRUCTED CARBONACEOUS FUEL FiledJuly 28. 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 17, 1928. v 1,656,364 w. B. RULONMETHOD FOR FORMING RECONSTRUCTED CARBONACEOUS FUEL Filed July 28, 1925 5SheetS-Shee`b 5 e W15. m70,

Jan. 17, 1928. l.,656,364

W, B. RULON METHOD FOR FORMING RECONSTRUCTED CARBONACEOUS FUEL Mww Jan.17, 192.8a L

W. B. RULON METHOD FOR FORMING RECONSTRUCTED CARBONAGEOUS FUEL FiledJuly 28. 1925 5 Smeets--Sheei'l 5 Patented lanm l?, i928.

ras are testati T FFICE.

wafrsoiv ie. nunon", or rrririannnrnra, PENNSYLVANIA.

Application filed July 28, 1925. Serial No. 46,676.

'this invention relates to Jdie 'ypmriliiifaiioii ot carbonaceousmafrcnials containing` varyingjr amounts ol volatiles, to remove foreignn'iatti-n.' therefrom to produce a resultantreconstructe -fuel which .issubstantially i'ree vfrom foreign non-combustible material.

' it has heretofore been proposed to crush the crude material to betreated to reduce .it substantially to a tine powder whereupon it isconveyed to what is linoxvn as an ainalpgan mater Where it is agitatedinthe presence ot winter9 and volatiles from an extraneous stuirce areintroduced into the :nnalgamator where they are taken up by thecarbonaceous material.. The action ot the amalgamator separates foreignmatter such as slate, ash, etc., trom the carbon so that the volatilesintroduced to the amalgamator conibine only with the substantially purecarbon. l? rom the :unalgamator the material is heated. to drive oii' ayportion oi the moisture taken up in the amalgamator and also to driveoff a portion oit thevolatiles then contained inthe carbonaceousmaterial. The result-ant inaterial formed has been found to consist otsubstantially pure carbon together With volatiles which orms anexcellent 'iuel which burns suliistantially Without residue, such as ashand the like Considerable trouble has been experienced in providingheating means tor driving` oii moisture and some oit the volatiles intorminf the resultant ifuel. in the methods heretofore employed, theheatingr step has been carried out While the ma terial. is in a more orless divided condition in the 'l'orm ot' globules and the heating hasbeen done in the presence ot the products ot comliiustion from theheating` means employcd. ll have toiind that the material previoustopassing;` to the heating means may be formed in relatively large pieces,such as bins oif varying lengths, and the heating ao* tion may becarried out to drive oit moisture and voiatiies.; Without breaking thematerial, thus providing a resultant recimstructed iuel which may bedeli ered in sizes eorreraizoialing; to the sizes oit domestic fuels'for more ready combustion in ad ot the globular it'orin as previouslyhas been done. It also has been tound that the heating` action may bemore advantageously carried out in a con-v tinuous tube which isslightly larger than the diameter ot 'the `pieces or bars of thesemi-finished "hiel, the tubes preventing` 'the products ol. combustiontrom contacting with ith-e 'materiali While the slightly iarger diam.

eter oit the heating tubes permits the vola tiles driven oli to becollected and condensed for furthe-r use.

it is an .important object of the invention to 2gather the materialformed by successive initial steps in the processes now known whereby arelatively pure carbonaceous material is amalgamated With a suitablepercentage ot volatiles, and Y.term this material into pieces orbars otmaterial size While in a substantially semi-plastic condition7 and thendriving` oil a portion ot the moisture and a portion of volatilestoprovide a iinished resultant reconstructed fuel.

[t further object is to carry out the tinal heat-ingsvv step ot themethod outlined above in successive steps of increasing-heat inten* sitytor driving ott moisture and a relative percentage oi' the volatilescontained in the semiiinished 'fuel whereby the latter vvill retain. its.torni and harden Without breaking.

A :further object is to perform the linal heating action While thesemi-linished luel passes through an atmosphere of air whereby the fuelis more rapidly hardened to assume its `finished Jiorm.

A still further object is to utilize they Waste or excess heat from theheating` step for initially heating the crude material to drive ott therelative lighter and heavier volatiies from the raw carbonaceousmaterial.

l also provide an apparatus suitable` tor carrying out the method aboveoutlined. ln the provision ot the apparatus, it is an important objectto'provide a unitary heating means adapted to perform both the heatingactions relcrred toythus materially simplify ing` the apparatus employedand etiecting a material saving in tuel consumption incident to theheating,- operations, the heatingapparatus employing as its 'fuel thelighter `volatile constituents .initially driven oi the crude materialemployed.

A further object is to provide novel. means .'l'or a i'inal heatingaction. wherein the amalganiated carbons and volatiles are extruded intoa completely closed tube which is eni tcrnally heated whereby theproducts ot combustion from the heating; means are prevented t'romcoming in Contact with the material beine" treated.

`A still further object is to provide a novel torni otheating apparatuswherein ,heating Zones of increasing` intensity are provided `forprogressively driving oii'` the lighter to the heavier voiatileconstituents.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view ot the apparatus7 Figure Q is averticalr longitudinal sectional vieuT through the heating apiiaratus,

Figure i5 is a section on line --Sf olf Figure Z,

Figure -1 is a similar vieu' ou line lf-at ot Figure 2,

Figure 5 is a section on line .5v-7) of Figure 1,

Figure G is a diagrammatic vieu' showing a modified form oit apparatus,

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing` a moditled form ofheating appara- Y tus, and,

Figure 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the heating means employedin conneet-ion with the form o1 the heating apparatus shown in Figure 7.

Referring to Figure 1, the numeral 10 designates a Crusher ot' anysuitable kind adapted to be supplied with crude material through an endhopper 11. rlhe crusher is provided ivith a ring gear 1Q adapted to berotated by a pinion 13 mounted on a shaift 14, A pulley 15 is secured tothe shaft 14 and is adapted to be driven by a belt from any suitablesource ot power. The crusher is adapted to discharge material therefromto an outlet spout 17. rlfhe crusher 10 preferably reduces the materialto such a degree ol" tineness that it will pass through troin a 1t) toQO-mesh screen.

Reiter-ring to Figures 1 and Q, the numeral 1S 'designates as a whole aheating apparatus prefer-ably formed otf tire brick and substantiallyenclosed. rthe heating apparatus is provided near its upper end with alongitudinally extending conveyor it) having a screw therein secured toa shaft 21 to be rotated thereby.Y V1he shaft is mounted in bearings 22and is adapted to be rotated by a suitable pulley 23 shown in Figure 2.itt itsI inlet end, the conveyor is open as at 2l tor communicationwith. an inlet hopper 2:3 which is adapted to receive material from theoutlet end oitthe erusner 10. The opposite end ot' theconveyor is openas at 26 to discharge in" eri'al upon a spout 27. The heating apparatus1S is divided transversely by preferably equidistantly spaced Walls 28Lesage/r as shown in Figure Q. A plurality of tubes 29 extend throughthe loiver portion ot the heating apparatus and are open at their endsas shown at 30. rihe tubes are surrounded betiveen the end walls olf theheat'- ing apparatus by jackets or chambers 231 ivhich extend throughthe walls 28 as shoivn. The outlet ends of the pipes 29 communicate witha discharge chamber 32 having an open lower end 33. r he upper end ofthe discharge chamber communicates with a fractional distillator 3'1-through a suitable pipey 35 for a purpose to be described.

Means are provided l'or'ettectively heating the tubes 2t. As shown inFigures 2 and 3, l provide a pipe 3o which communicates with vt-rticallyextending manifold pipes 37 adapted to be controlled by valves Sid. Theupper portions ol the pipes 257 are )ju'ovided u'ith branch pipes 39which coiniuunicate with the heating jackets 3l near the outlet ends otthe pipes 3T. The opposite ends ot the jackets 31 are provided ivithbranch pipes L10 each ot which communicates with an outlet manifold a1and the lou'er ends ot' themanitolds are connected by a cross pipe lf2below the heating a pparatus.

rlhe chambers 31 may be heated by any suitable torni of vaporcirculating therethrough and in the drawings I have shown an apparatust'or employing` mercury vapor as the heating means. frs shown, l providea boiler 3 adapted to contain the mercury vapor to be heated by a gasburner str-l arranged therebelouf'. in outlet pipe lo communicates Withthe upper portion ot the boiler and is connected to a pipe section lowhich in turn Connected through a 4T to the pipe 36 as shovvn in Figures2 and 3. T le valve Lle is adapted to control passage ol the vaporsthrough the pipe le cross pipe it@ is connected with a return piper dit)shown in Figures 2 and 4t, and this pipe connects to the inlet end of acondenser 5t) which has an outlet pipe 5l communicating with the lowerportion olf the boiler.

As shown iu Figure 2, the conveyor l) provided with domes Iiiand 'Thedome o2 communicates with au outlet pipe extending through the upperu'all o t' the heating apparatus and this pipe is provided with a.depeluling portion 5b, shown in Fig-- l, ,zted to a scrulfiber and a y,:jucter 5b' to condition the 'l'ueb and "traan the gasoineter the iuelpasses to the burner et to supply fuel thereto. The dome provided Withanoutlet pipe 57 the opposite endroit Which is connected to a condenser58, fas shown in Figure l and this condenser is pro'ided with an outlet.pipe 59 which leads to a storage tank G0. Volatiles driven ott theconveyor through the pe 5T are adapted to be condensed the condenser 58and the supply `ot volatiles to` the condenser may be augmented througha pipe til having; its opposite end connected to the tractionaldistillator 234i as shrrwn.. pipe G2 communicates with the deine 5fttorea-cire volatilesI tlierelfroin and this pipe 'is connected to acondenser (S3 and the supply oi" volatiles to this condenser also may beaugmented through a `pipe (il havinpY its opposite end also connected tothe 'fractional distillator as shown in Figure Il.. The con denser (53is provided with an outlet pipe G5 through which condensed 'volatilesare supplied to a storage tank 66. Out-let pipes (S7 communicati-J withthe tanins G0 and 6G and passage ot inaterial tl'nfough these pipes isadapted to be controlled by valves G8. The pipes (S7, beyond the valveire both connected to :i con'nnon outlet pipe (39, the lower end etwhich communicutes' with an ainalgauiator 7() near the lower endthereo'i. Ahlitional volatiles may be supplied to the uinalpainator itdesir-cth through a pipe 7l coininlinicating` with a supply 'tank 72. Apipe 73 connects the tank 72 to the pipe (SS) and passage ot thematerial through the pipe 7 3 is adapted to be controlled by a Valve 74.v

Any suitable torni oit anialganiator may be enilpiloyed. In the presentinstance, l have shown the ainaigainator as being substantiallycylindrical and provided centrally thereo't with an agitator shaft 75having,r

-angrular agitator blades 7G secured thereto and adapted to torcet-hematerial in the alnalgainator upwardly. The Shaft may be driven by asuitable pulley 77. A burner 77 may be arranged below the ainalgainatorwhereby the material in the latter may be maintained. constantly at anydesired teinperature.

The outlet spout 27 ot the conveyor is adapted to discharge material:into a hopper 7S and water may be supplied to the hopper through a pipe79, rthe hopper 78 is adapted to feed material `into a erueher d()adapted to be driven in the saine manner as the crusherl() previouslydescribed. It has been 'found that the crushing action niore efiicientlymay be carried out in the presence ot water und it is deeirable toSupply water to the crusher through the pipe 79. lt is deeired ihut thecrusher ti() etlfect a reduce tion oif the material passh'igtherethrough to a relatively great degree et iiuenees to etl'ect anuuchanieal breaking` ot the carbon and toreign materiale contained inthe material being;- treated. i\.ccoi'dingly, I prefer to reduce thematerial in the Crusher 8O to a degrec ot iineness whereby it will passthrough a screen of approXimatelyQO() mesh. The Crusher 8() is providedwith an outlet spout 8l which discharges material. into a eiute 82 'fromwhence it paesee downwardly to the emalgaiuator 70, as will beobvious?,orally ein'iiler to the :torni preview-sly The ainalganmtor is providedwith a surroundingtrough S3, the upper edge ot which may be arrangedslightly above the upper yedge ol" the ainalganiator cylinder proper.

.A return conduit S3 connected between the trough :ind the lowerport-ion ot the iunzilgainator to perinit circulation et the water oil,amalgam and pulverized Coal as the blades 7G inove the material in theainalganiator upwardly. Onewe'l ot the trough may be provided with anopeningny covered by a screen S through which water und foreign materialsuch es ash, etc., inay flow, to be carried oil through a pipe dit to asuitable launder. The amalgaunited nieterial overflowing into 'thetrench 83 will be picked up by a conveyor 35 wiich prei ernbly torinedot woven. ik. brie such-ee screen wire to permit weter to drain treinthe niet@ rinl. From the conveyor the material will bedeposited in ahopper 8G shown iu detuii in Figure 5 oit the dii'uwings.

The hopper 8"? is A] n ov.ided with a plurality ot discharge openinge 87corresi'ionding in :arrangement to a plurality ot extrud ing tubes 88.correspond in arrangementwith the pipes 29 and each is provided with aninlet opening 89 through which material ilows 'from the hopper. ln`Figure l l have diagrainnietically shown a ineane` which may beprovided for extruding)` the material Vi'roin the hopper into the pipes29. A piston 90 n'iey be einployed to reciprocate in each oil the tubes88 and each piston is connected to rod 9i which may be driven by anysuitable source ot' power to reciprocate the piston.

The internal diameter ot the extruding tubes 88 is somewhat smaller thanthe internal diameter of the heating tubes 29 as shown in Figure 2, andit will be obvious that the rods or bars extruded troni the tubes 88will rest upon the lower portions ot the tubes 29 providing a spacenearly ein'rmnuln ing the extruded bars tor a purpoee to be described.

In Figures 6 and 7 'ot the drawings, l have shown a son'iewhat modifiedtorni oit apparatus. ln the inoditied forni the general assembly oielemente substantially the saine as in the torni ineviouely described.in the modified torni ofthe api'iaretus l einploy a heating chamber 92which is genK scribed except that there employed a dif-- ferent :torniot cmiveyinil means tor the initial heating` and a different heating;apparatuas for heating. the chamber 92.A Ae shown, I provide a conveyor93 having talzeot `donnes for the Volatiles'siinilar to those describedin connection with the torin ot the invention already described. Theconveyor 93 provided. with a conveying; belt Q-ii therein and this beltpasses about pulleys or rollere 95 and 96 et opposite ende. @the con*The extruding tubes in turn veyor belt is adapted to discharge materiallinto a hopper 97 which delivers the material to the Crusher 80previously described. rl`he hopper' 9i' may eilt-end upwardly as shownand may be supplied with material directly from the cruslier 10 by aconveyor 98 shown in dotted lines in Figure 6. The conveyor 98preferably is employed when the method and apparatus is being used inconnection with crude material having a low volatile content while morehighly volatile materials are preferably'passed through the conveyors tobe heated.

Theheating apparatus 92 is also provided with a pipe 5G to supply thefuel for the heating operation. Instead of heating mercury vapor or thelike externally of the heating apparatus and supplying the vapor toheating jackets as previously described, the gases through the pipe 56in the modified forni of apparatus are adapted to be burned directlywithin the heating chamber 92. As shown, the lower end of the pipe 56 inthe modified form of apparatus supplies the gas to a manifold 99 fromwhence it is distributed through pipes 100 to transverse burnei pipes101 arranged within the lower portion of the heating chamber as clearlyshown in Figure 7. rllhese pipes 101 extend transversely of lthe heatingapparatus and are provided at spaced intervals with upstanding burnertubes 102 covered by caps 103. Air for supporting` combustion of the gasis supplied through pipes 104i having open ends 105 arranged externallyof the heating chamber and the air pipes 104e are provided with rowsofopenings 106 through which the air passes. The air pipes are arranged inhorizontal alinement with the pipes 101 and both sets of pipes areadapted to act as a grate, to support a bedof refractory aggregates 107.rlhe heat generated by the gas from the burner tubes 102 is adapted toraise the temperature of the aggregates 107 to point of incandescence.1n the modied form ofapparatus7 it will be noted that the tubes 29 willbe acted on directly by the heat generated in the refractory aggregatesand of course are not surrounded by heating tubes as in `the case of'the apl'iaratus previously describeifl.

Control valves 10i-3 arev arranged in the pipes 100 so that thecombustion of fuel from the individual burner pipes may be controlled tosetup heat Zones of ditlerent intensities between the division walls 2S.

As shown in Figure (i, a tlue 109 is con nected to the heating chamber92 to carry oil1 the products of combustion formed in the gas burners.'The flue 109is provided with a horizontally extending enlarged' portion110 for a purpose to be described.

ln the form of the invention illustrated in Figure 6 l provide anamalgamator 70 as previously described having an outlet trough Leases@111 into which material is delivered. A. lifting conveyor 112 is adaptedto convey the material upwardly to a horizontal endless screen 113 whichpasses about rollers 1111 and 115. The conveyor 113 preferably in theform of a wire screen to permit the water in the material to be draineddownwardly into the amalgamator. Unc end of the conveyor 113 isarranged. within the horizontal portion 110 of the flue to be slightlyheated thereby to drive some of the moisture. A chute 110 is adapted toconvey material from the screen 113 to the hopper 86 previously describel.

lt has been found that the semi-finished fuel will harden more readilyin an atmosphere of air Lthan in the presence of the volatiles drivenotl from material in thc tubes Accordingly pipes lli" are provided whichcommunicate with the interior of the pipes 29 to supply air thereto.

The operation of the apparatus as follows The crude material is fed tothe Crusher 1.0 if the material is sutliciently -coarse to requirecrushing. lt will be obvious that any carbonaceous material may beemployed such as for instance the low volatile anthracite coals and highvolatile bituminous coals, etc. rllhis material may be raw coals or maybe obtained from screenings, mine wastes or any other solid carbonaceousmatter. After being reduced substantially to a degree of finenesswhereby it will pass through a screen of approximately 10 to 20 mesh,the material will be fed into the hopper 25 if the material employedcontains a. relatively high percentage of volatiles. l? rom the liop per25, the material will be conveyed by the screw 20 through the conveyori9, as will be apparenti. rElie material. fed into the hopper is, ofcourse7 at au ordinary temperature and will become heated within theconveyor. Since the material fed into the hopper at an ordinarytemperature, it will be apparent that it will be gradually heated as itconveyed by the screw. lhe initial heating of the crude material willdrive olf some of the lighter volatile constituents such as benzol andthe like, and. this volatile malerial in the-form of gas will passdownwardly through the pipe 56 to provide fuel for the burner fil. Asthe material in the conveyor becomes heated to av higher teimlierature,a. second heat Zone will be reached in the central portion of theheating chamber and some of the heavier volatiles, such :is pitch.y willbe Adrawn olf together' with a` small amount of benzol which previouslyhas not been completely volatilized and it probable that some smoke alsowill be given of?. As the material passes through the conveyor itstemperature will be raised until it reaches the third stage asillustrated where in the heavier volatiles will pass upwardly i lll) lou

lll)

reseei through the pipe -`Nhile I have illustrated the heating of theraw mateiiial as taking place in three stages it will be apparent thatany number oi. stages may be employed whereby the material will beraised in temperature to drive olli' the lighter and heavier volatileconstitue t From the conveyor yur-avionsmantiene i, the material will,be discl'iarged into the hopper 78 of the second crushing` mill SO andthe material will rbe of suliistantially the saine granular form as whenintroduced into the heating el'iamber. In the mill 80 the materialcrushed to a relatively fine powder such as would pass through a screenof substantially 200 mesh and it will be discharged from the millthrough the chute S2 into the amalgamator 70. As previously stated`rwater is supplied to the mill 8() through the pipe 79 and, flows withthe `ground material 'into the amalgamation rhe granular material isagitated in the ainalgiamator by the arms 7l) carried by the shaft T5,as will be obvious. As previously stated, the heavier volatiles drivenolf in the heating apparatus will pass upwardly from the domes 53 and 5linto the pipes 57 and Gil respectiw-ily. Volatiles from the pipe 57 willbe carried to the condei'iser 58 frmn whence the Volatile material inthe forni of liquid will be supplied to the storage tank (30. Similarly,the heavier constituents from the pipe (32 will be condensed by thecondenser 63 and. will be supplied to the storage tank (3b. Flow of thecondensed`volatiles from the tanks G() and 6G to the amalgamator may becontrolled by the If it is found necessary or desirable to supplyvolatiles from an extraneous source, this additional supply may beobtained from the storage tank 7 Thus it will be seen that the volatilesin desired quantities are supplied to the amalgamator through the pipe(39 while the agitation of the semi-finished fuel and water beingvarried on. rlhe volatiles flowing into tl 1, :unaleamatm will combinesomewhat as an amalgam with the pure carbon vin the amalgan'iator andthe action of the agitating propellers kwill cause the amalgam to rise.The volatiles have been found to have a very high aflinity 'for thecarbon in the vamalgamator but have no allinity whatever for the foreignsubstancesV such as slate, ash, ete., after they have become wet. Theamalgamation of the carn bon and volatiles will form small globules of asemi-plastic material and these globules will increase in size asagitation is continued and additional solid material and volatiles arefed into the conveyor. in this connection it is pointed out that theproduct which it :is desired to obtain from the amalgamator preferablyshould be in ay .semi-plastic condition in order that a number of theglobules may be compressed to formsolid relatively ysemi-plasticcondition of the material. a

valve titi as will be obvious.'

large pieces and accordingly it may be desired to supply to theamalgamator a quark tity of volatiles in excess of that required toproperly amalgamate with the carbon. It will be olwiousI that theprovision of means for supplying the volatiles from an eXtraneous sourcepermits this excess to be main-- tained when found desirable. As stated,the amalgam will overflow into the trough 83 from whence it will becarried by 'the screen 85 to the hopper l prefer to employ a mesh screenas the conveyor 85 so that ei;- cess water may drain from they materialbefore it is fed into the hopper. fl/Tater and some foreign materialalso will overflow into the trough and some of it willreturn to theamalgamator through conduit 83. Excess water will'be supplied to theamalgamatoi." from the mill 80, and this excess, ,together with some ofthe powdered foreign material, will be disposed of through the pipe 8l.

The material in the hopper will be fed downwardly to be distributed tothe various extruding` tubes S8, i flowing thereinto through theopenings 87 and 89. The plungers 90 will be reciproeated to force thematerial .forwardly in the eXtri/iding tubes and each inward movement ofeach plunger will tend to cause -a binding action between the globulesof the semistinished fuel', the binding` action being possible due tothe As each plunger .isinoved rearwardly, an additfonal supply of theglobulesuvill be supplied to each of the tubes andfthe next inwardmoifement of each plunger will again unite ther globulesinto arelativelysolid mass which will not adhere tightly to the mass formedbythe previous inward movement of the plunger. Thus it will be seen thateach of the plunger-s forms a bar of the semiplastic material and asthese bars are forced inwardly they will pass into the tubes 29 and willtravel entirely thereacross as additional material is forced from thelextrud inn' tubes. As the bars of material formed in the extrudingltubes pass through the tube 2S) they will be progressively heated aswill be understood. As previously stated, the tubes 29 areslightly'greater in diameter internally than the extruding tubes and itwill be apparent that a small space will be provided almost entirelyaround the bars of material passing` through the `tubes 29. Thesemiplastic material enteringl the tubes 29 contains approximately 35per cent volatile material and at the point of discharge from the tubes29 the percentage of volatiles is reduced to approximately l5 per cent.lor less at which point the material assumes a state of hardnessapproachingl that of ordinary `anthracite coal. As stated7 thehardeningi` of the semi-finished fuel may bev carried out moreadvantageously' in an atmosphere of air than inthe presence of thevolatiles be- `los lll)

ing driven off from the fuel. Accordingly, air may be continuouslyintroduced into the pipes 29 through the air pipes 117.V The divisionsdefined by individual recproca.

tions of the plungers 90 will define the lengths of the pieces of fueldischarged from the openings 30, as will be obvious. lhe material willbe discharged from the lower end of the chamber 32 and the volatilesdrivenoff from the material in the tubes 29 will collect in the chamber32 and will llow upwardly therein. From the upper end of the chamber thevolatiles will flow through the pipe 35 into the fractional distillaterwherein the volatiles 'of different specilic gravities will beyseparatedand kdischarged through pipes 61 and 6lto the condensers 58 and 63 aswgll be apparent. lf desired a blower may be employed for drawing thevolatiles from the chamber 32 to the fractional distillator.

In the form 'of the apparatius illustrated iu Figures 1 to d inclusive,l have shown ineaiis for heating the chamber 18 by mercury vapor. Gaswill be supplied to the burner la from the dome 52 and it will beapparent that the burner will heat the boiler 43 to vaporize themercury. rlhe mercury vapor will flow upwardly through pipes 45 and @l0from whence they will be distributed to the vertical manifolds 37. Flowof the mercury vapor will be controlled by valves 38 to determine thetemperature adjacent the discharge ends Vof the tubes .29. From theupper ends of the pipes 37, the mercury vapor will pass into the jackets31 through pipes 39. will be apparent` that the temperature of the vaporwill decrease as it flows toward the inlet ends of the tubes 29 due tothe natural radiation of heat and will be discharged from the jackets 31through pipes 40', as shown in Figures 2 and l. From the pipes d0, thevapor will flow to the outlet manifolds Ll1 from whence it will becollected in the pipe 49 and conveyed to the condenser 50. From thecondenser the niercury will be returned as liquid to the boiler 113through the pipe 51 whereupon it will be reheated to continue itscirculation.

The operation of the apparatus shown in Figures 6 and 7 is substantiallythe same as in the form previously described. ln the modified form thereis shown a belt con* veyor 9e for conveying the material through theupper end 'of the heating chamber. rlhe use of a belt conveyor has beenfound desirable when the apparatus is used in connection with materialshaving an unusually high volatile content. Then the materials having alow volatile content are employed, the materials may be conducteddirectly from the mill 10 to the hopper 97 by the conveyor 98.

As previously stated, heating of the chamber 92 is accomplished directlyby gas burners arranged in the chamber instead ofrhy externally heatedvmercury vapors. (las from the first dome 52 will be supplied throughpipe to the scrubber and gasometer from whence it passes to the manifold99 to be distributed through the pipes 100 to the burner pipes 101, theflow of gas in each pipe 100 being controlled by its valve 108 wherebyZones of different heat intensity may be created. VThe gas will burn asit passes from the burner tubes 102 and air for combustion will besupplied through pipes 10L1- and openings 106. Thus it will be ol viousthat the refractory aggregates 107 will be heated to incandescence tosupply proper heat to thechamber 92. The cap 103 arranged on eachlnirner tube is adapted to prevent particles of the refractories fromfalling 'into the burner pipes. lroducts of combustion from the chamber92 will flow through the flue 109 to the enlarged portion 110 and theheat in the flue may be utilized for partially drying the material inthe conveyor 113. 'lhe conveyor projects a material distance beyond theend of the enlarged portion of the flue to permit water to drain throughthe screen forming the conveyor, to the amalgamator 21). Material fromthe screen 113 will be fed to the hopper 80 through the chute 11G, andfrom the hopper 80 it will be distributed to the various entruding tubesaspreviously described.

lt will be apparent that the material in the tubes 29 will be protectedfrom external in'lluences, such as products of combustion, due to thefact that the materials are entirely enclosed within the tubes 29. ltalso will loe apparentthat the space provided around the bars ofextruded material will permit the volatiles to flow freely from thetubes 29.

lt has been found that the final heating action may be carried out,particularly when done in stages of vprogressively increasing heatintensity without forming gas pocketsi within the bars of fuel, lthuspreventing breakage of the bars. Thus solid ri-latively large pieces offuel are obtained from the apparatus and this fuel is highly suitablefor domestic or other use and is subject to almost perfect combustionwhereby practically no residue is left.

From'the foregoing it will be apparent that the method adapted to becarried out by the apparatus previously described comprises generally incrushing the material to be treated, driving a portion of the volatileconstituents therefrom and then the-further crushing of the material toa considerable degree of iineness and agitating it in the presence ofwater or similar liquid 'while supplying condensed volatiles thereto toform an amalgam. After the formation of amalgam the process consists informing the more or less plastic amalgam into relatively large pieces orhars of reconstructed fuel and heating them in a substantially closedchainher to dry the bars or pieces and reduce the volatile constituentthereof.

lt ie to be understood that the forins of the invention herewith shownand described are to he ta Ien ae preferred e; inples of thc saine andthat various changes in the'shape, Size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to Without departing from the spirit of the invention or the.scope of the suhjoined claiins.

l claiin l. ylheiinethod of forming reconstructed fuel which consists inagitating a finely divided solid carhonaceous material in a liquidinediinn having no afl'linity therefor, introducing a volatile liquidhaving an altin'ity for said. carhonaceous material into said li uiddurino aoitation thereof to forni. a

somewhat plastic amalgam in the forni of .fanall pieces, compressing anumber of such pieces to fornra single relatively large lump7 andheating said lunip to reduce the per- .:entage of volatile liquidtherein to the point where eaid luinp hecoines solid, the ii'iitial heatto which. said lump is subjected being .relatively low.

L. 'lho method of forming recrnistructed fuel which consists inaeitating a finely divided. solid carhonaceoue material. in a liquidniediuin having no allinity therefrn.7 introducing a volatile liquidhaving an affinity for said carhonaceoue material into Said liquidduring agitation thereof to forni a somewhat plasticalnalgain in the'forni of small pieces, coingreseing a nuniber of such pieces to `fornia. single rela-tively large lump, and passing the lunip thus formedtlnfough heat zones of progressively increasing teinperatures to reducethe percentage of volatiles therein to the point Where thelainp hommessolid.

3. rilhe method. of forming reconstructed fuel which consists inagitating a :linely divided solid carlionaceoue material in a liquidmod'iun'i having no afiinity therefor7 .intro-- (lacing a volatileliquid having au aliinity for said carbonaceous material into saidliquid incdiuin during agitation thereof to forni a eoincu'lnit plasticamalgam in the forni of sinall pieces, draining the greater portion ofthe liquid medium from the pieces thus formed extruding quantities ofsaid inediuin having no ailinity therefor, introducing a volatile liquidhaving an affinity for said. carbonaccous material into said liquidduring agitation thereof to forni a somewhat plastic amalgam7 removingthe amalgam from the liquid inediuni, and heating the amalgam in thepresence of air to vaijiorize moisture from the ainalgain and reduce thepercentage of volatiles therein, and to harden the resultant product.

5. 'lhe niethod of forming reconstructed. fuel which consists inagitating a finely di.- vided solid carioonaceous material in a liquid.medium having no affinity therefor, introlacing` a volatile liquidhaving an .a'linity for said carhonaceous material into said. liquidduring agitation thereof to forri a somewhat plastic amalgam in theforin of eniall pieces, coinjqnessing a nuniber of such pieces to fornia single relatively7 large lmnp, and heating said lump to progressivelyincrease temperatures in the presence of air to reduce the percentage ofvolatile liquid therein to the point Where said luinp beconu-is solid.

o. rflic method of forming reconstructed fuel which consists inagitating a finely divided solid carbonaceous material in a liquidmedium having no aliinity therefor, introducing a volatile liquid havingan aliinity for said carbonaceous material into said liquid mediumduring agitation thereof to forni a. somewhat plastic amalgam in theforni of small pieces, draining the greater portion of the liquidinedilun from the pieces thus; formed, continuously7 extrudingquantities of said pieces to forni hare, and passing said hars in thepresence of air tl'iroughhea 1'; :cones of progressively increasingtemperaA turcs Vto vaporize moisture therefrom and to reduce thepercentage of volatiles in said amalgam to the point Where the barsbecome solid.

In testimony whereof7 I affix niy signature.

l/VATSON B. RULGN.

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Signed and sealed s i3d@ day @f Mauth, D, NZS,

E. Mum@ Sea. Acng (Commisnm of Patents.

